Roy is a top 10 player, close to top 6-7 in my eyes, and an awesome leader on this team. Kevin Durant will not be that guy. Ever.
Again, the ONLY way I even proposed this scenario is because I have some serious concerns surrounding Roy's health. If Brandon were healthy as an ox? No way. Jose'. Do you guys that say no to this proposal think Brandon won't increasingly be subject to injury?
I would trade Roy without hesitation, but not for Durant. I also wouldn't consider trading Roy for Durant as selling high.
durant is intelligent and learning very quickly, respected by his teammates, has shown indication that he does have roy's killer instinct, and he just turned 20 & is nowhere near reaching his potential and yet he's already one of the 2-3 best offensive SF in the game. there's no reason to think he isn't capable of becoming the same type of "awesome leader" roy is. odds are he will by the time he's roy's age. i would not want to see roy go because he's already firmly established as a leader here, but at the same time if i were the thunder i would not trade durant for roy straight up either. i'd bet durant will be the more valuable player in 3 years or less.
I saw the pick, and this is why I still wouldn't In few drafts are there real difference makers. Lebron, Robinson, Ewing, Hakeem, Oden hopefully, but in this draft there really isn't a huge difference maker at the top of the fraft. Brandon Roy however IS a difference maker. I also don't think Chucker Durant is a difference maker either .
I believe you failed to consider my ongoing points regarding Roy's health. It's cool, though. Really, it's all a moot as it'll never happen.
durant is not a chucker, at least not any more than he is supposed to be. that's an undeserved rap left over from his rookie season when he was thrown to the wolves without much direction playing under a terrible coaching system. he's currently shooting .464, .444 3P, with a .559 TS% (pretty good numbers for a 20-year-old) on a terrible team. if anything he should be shooting more, not less.
I think I would consider a trade for Chris Paul. Roy provides much in the way of stability and leadership to this young team. However, I believe Paul just might get more out of LA and Oden than Roy will. Of course much depends on who we get for SG to replace Roy, but that is easier than acquiring a playmaker.
Thabeet?!?!?!? LMFAO not worth it. Thabeet and Durant is NOT worth Roy. Griffin and Durant is FOR SURE worth Roy.
If OKC's on the clock, Rubio's still on the board and it's Roy for Durant and Rubio, it's hard. I'm with Nik that I think Roy is the perfect guy for our team, in terms of character, NW boy, leadership, etc. Rubio/Rudy/Durant/LMA/Oden? Bench rotation of JB or Sergio, Webster and Pryz or Lee? Sounds kind of nice. But I don't think there are "locks" either way.
Remember reports of KP getting emotional after trading Blake? Break out the tissue if this comes across his desk. Durant + Top 5 pick in this draft > BRoy... especially down the line STOMP
What's so hard about a descision between a proven NBA player and team leader versus a Euro prospect that might or might not be a great NBA player and a second year "leader" of the worst team in the history of the NBA? You cannot trade Roy for anything less then a proven winner in the NBA. Chris Paul you would have to think about. LeBron, Wade and Kobe would be hard to turn down. Durant isn't even a consideration at this point in his career. Who the hell cares if Durant is respected by a collection of complete losers? If Durant was "Special" his team would have won more, period. As it is, he is Harvey Grant. A good player on a horrible team whose stats are inflated due to the number of touches he gets. As for Roy's health concerns, every player in the NBA is one bad landing from a career ending injury. I don't think Roy is any less durable then Wade and Wade was out pretty much all last year.
Roy and Durant shoot near identical percentages from the field and the line, and KD is far superior from 3's. If he's a "Chucker" is Brandon one as well? STOMP
(I'm saying right now that I love Roy and I wouldn't trade Roy for Wade.) Now that that's said, let's take off Rose-Colored Mike Barrett Homer Glasses and take a look: What has Roy won? ROY, on a 31-win team with significantly more talent than the Sonics last year. Amazingly enough, so did Durant. Every player in the NBA is one bad landing from a knee reconstruction. Brandon's had a couple already. Durant, iirc, has not. So Jordan wasn't "Special", since his team wasn't over .500 until his 4th year? Let's look at "inflated number of touches". Roy gets 17 shots per game in 37 minutes. Durant gets 18 in 38 minutes. Roy shoots 47%, Durant 46%. Roy shoots 2.7 3's a game at 36%, Durant shoots 3.0 3's a game at 44%. Hate to tell you: our team of "complete losers" hasn't played in many more playoff games than OKC's team.
Oh yeah, and Rubio started the Gold Medal game of the Olympics at PG at 17. Maybe he will suck and never be good in the NBA. You have no clue, just as I have no clue. But 6'4 ballhandling wizards with significant international experience who play good D while being 10 years before their physical prime would be a good place to start.
If Rubio were expected to be in the coming draft, this trade would be absolutely impossible. OKC would never trade away Durant and a chance at Rubio for Roy. Roy is excellent, but both Durant and Rubio, each, could end up more valuable than Roy. Rubio is considered an incredibly high-upside point guard prospect. Those are as rare as incredibly high-upside center prospects. And Durant, after a tough rookie season, has flourished since the dismissal of PJ Carlisimo. I'd take the proven excellence of Roy over Durant's upside (though OKC wouldn't deal Durant straight up for Roy, either), but if a shot at Rubio were thrown in, I'd take the deal without hesitation.
